Harry was woken up by someone shaking him roughly by the shoulder. Angrily, Harry reached for his glasses, and at the same time moaned "Whaaaaat?!" Pushing his glasses on, Harry saw that it was Lupin who had been shaking him awake, and now Lupin looked startled.

"I was waking you up," he explained hastily. "We have lessons, remember?" It took Harry awhile to absorb this, and when he did he remembered the details of the night before, how he'd ended up in his father's time, and was pretending to be his father.

But I've never done seventh year lessons…Harry thought, and the familiar feeling of panic rose within him. However, to Lupin he said, "I'll be down in a few minutes." Lupin nodded and left.

Harry dressed quickly (his father's clothes were slightly long on him; apparently James had been taller than Harry was now at age seventeen) while trying to think up a good plan to get back to his own time. He doubted whether the broom closet he'd been found in the day before was the solution; instead he thought he needed to find the wardrobe. But, seeing as it was years earlier, it could be anywhere. Discouraged, Harry headed off to the Great Hall for a quick breakfast.

The first lesson Harry had as a "seventh year" was Transfiguration, and the topic was advanced conjuring spells. While James had been one of the top of his class in his time, Harry was not a great student, and hadn't even mastered conjuring so much as a tissue from thin air.

"For today's lesson, you will be conjuring up a chair and then, if you can manage it, a table," Professor McGonagall announced. The room had been cleared of desks, and the students were scattered about.

Harry concentrated hard and muttered the incantation under his breath, but nothing happened, except that a few sparks shot out of his wand. Nearby, both Sirius and Lily, whom Harry had known from people like McGonagall and Lupin were also top of their class, had already managed to conjure up chairs, and were working on tables. Lupin had managed four legs and the seat, and Peter had set his robes on fire.

"Are you okay?" Lupin asked, eyeing Harry suspiciously.

"Why?" Harry asked, trying to sound genuinely confused. He still hadn't conjured anything.

"Well, you're usually one of the quickest with these spells," Lupin said, as McGonagall congratulated Lily and Sirius on their newly conjured chairs and tables. "The day before yesterday you conjured up a door that fell on Snape! (It was a good thing Lily never found out…) And last night you were acting…different. Is it Lily?"

"No!" Harry snapped. "It's not Lily! Quit saying that; it's not true. I'm just stressed out, that's all. We've got loads of work, and it's our last year, and I'm Quidditch captain…" Harry had found out the last bit awhile ago, back in his own time.

"I guess," Lupin mumbled, but he still looked unconvinced.

Before the end of class Harry had only conjured up one chair leg, but at least he had done more than Peter, who had set Professor McGonagall on fire before the lesson was through. Their next period was a free one, so Harry met Lupin and Peter under a tree outside. There was a cold wind, and a light layer of snow covered the ground, but in his robes and scarf Harry was warm. It had to be around December.

"Where's Sirius?" he asked, looking around.

"Muggle Studies," Lupin answered, frowning slightly. "Didn't you know that James? You are his best friend, after all…" There was something accusatory in his voice that Harry didn't like.

"I-I forgot," Harry said. Then he remembered something and started, mostly to distract Lupin from his own lack of knowledge, "But don't Sirius' parents-" but stopped himself again. He remembered that Sirius had run away from home by now.

"It's almost full moon," Peter said, which distracted the attention from Harry. "Only two days…"

"Yeah," Lupin said, casting a look at the Shrieking Shack and the village of Hogsmeade in the distance. "Can't wait." The last bit sounded partly sarcastic.

"Bet you James has got something good planned, hasn't he?" Peter looked hopefully at Harry, who felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach.

Peter meant that they would be exploring the grounds during the full moon with Lupin, who was a werewolf. Their being with him made the transformations bearable, even fun. But there was a problem, for Harry at least. He had heard the story from Lupin a few years ago; in order to help make his transformations more bearable James, Sirius, and peter had become animagi (wizards who could transform into animals at will). Each month on the full moon they snuck out and spent the night with Lupin (as animals-James being a stag, Sirius a dog, and Peter a rat), occasionally exploring the Hogwarts grounds when Lupin was calm enough. Unfortunately, Harry had never attempted to become an animagus (it's a very hard process), so he wouldn't be able to turn into a stag, which would blow his cover…

"Y-yeah, I've got a plan," Harry muttered, feeling nervous. He needed a plan alright-a plan to get out of their full moon activities, or to get back to his own time. Unfortunately, none seemed to present itself...

"Potter! POTTER!"

Harry, who had been walking to the Great Hall for dinner after his last class, Charms, heard someone's voice yelling at him. He turned around and received a shock. Marching towards him, her long red hair fanning out behind her, was Lily Evans, his seventeen year old mother.

"Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew. I need to talk to you," she snapped. The four boys stopped and watched as she walked towards them, looking furious.

"Hi," Harry said, feeling shocked and awkward at the same time. He gave Lily a weak smile, unsure of what to do. She's my mum…

"Don't you 'hi' me, James Potter," Lily snapped. "I know perfectly well it's your fault!"

"W-what?!" Harry asked, taken aback.

"One of you is responsible for dyeing Snape's clothes pink, aren't you?"

"Did you ask him who did it?" Sirius asked Lily, his eyebrows raised slightly.

"No, I didn't, but-"

"Then you can't prove it was us," Sirius concluded, looking amused. "Now go and talk to your-"

"You or Potter did something," Lily insisted furiously. "I know-it's always you guys! Didn't I tell you to lay off Snape?"

"We haven't done anything to him in over a month, Lily," Lupin said calmly.

"Then how did his robes end up pink?" Lily asked swiftly.

Harry, who had witnessed the event, said, "We were making a 'Dreamless Sleep Draught' in Potions, and one of the Slytherins did a really lousy job, so he accidentally spilled the potion, and it got all over Snape, and he went nuts…It wouldn't come off either."

"It was really funny, actually. A good idea for…never mind," Sirius said. "But not our fault. Ask anyone-there were loads of witnesses. Where were you, anyway?" Lily was apparently supposed to be in their Potions class.

"I was asked to oversee a class of first years during their free period while McGonagall went to see Dumbledore," Lily replied coolly.

"So, everything's okay?" Lupin asked cheerfully. He clapped his hands together. "Good, then let's go eat dinner." Lily frowned at him, but walked away, looking disappointed.

"So we lay off Snivellus, and Lily still yells at us? Not right," Peter said.

"She just needs time to realize that we've stopped playing those tricks on Snape…well, we've stopped playing them in public, but, well, Lily doesn't need to know what we do to Snape, or anyone, otherwise," Lupin said.

"By the time she realizes we're…sort of innocent…we'll be wrinkled and on rockers," Sirius muttered darkly.

The next day passed very fast, too fast for Harry's liking. He was trying to think of several ways to get out of spending the full moon with Lupin, but the best he could come up with was to fall off his broom, and he certainly didn't want to do that. The day of the full moon came, and throughout the day Harry cast about wildly for something to save him. He found it in Severus Snape.

Just after another grueling Transfiguration class in the afternoon, Harry caught Snape walking down a corridor with his nose buried in a book, which Harry assumed had something to do with the Dark Arts. As he neared them, Harry prepared himself to act exactly as his father had in the one memory he had seen of him, which had taken place in James' fifth year.

"Hey Snivellus," Harry called out. Snape looked up and snapped his book shut furiously. "Having fun being a loser?" Harry felt someone slap his arm.

"What are you doing?" Lupin hissed in his ear. "You-are-Head Boy! You can't just call out a fight with Snape!"

"Sure I can!" Harry said, flashing a grin, even though he didn't feel happy.

"You'll get detention!" Sirius whispered. "You know what tonight is-you can't afford to get caught. And what about Evans, huh?" He was right, Harry knew it. This would jeopardize his chances-or, more correctly, his father's chances- with Lily.

"She was just beginning to think you'd changed," Peter added timidly. However, before Harry could respond…

"What is it, Potter? Come to show off your talent again?" Snape asked, his wand out and pointing at the four boys; he looked very angry. People were gathering to watch. "Do you really want to duel with me today? You won't win…" His eyes flashed dangerously.

"No!" Sirius and Lupin both hissed in Harry's ear. To Snape Harry said, "Fine, Snivelly, let's see how badly you can lose. Impedimenta!" The jinx flew towards Snape, who blocked it. The hall was beginning to get very crowded with onlookers.

"Stupefy!" Harry blocked Snape's spell without saying a word, and tried to think of a really good spell, when a voice yelled "STOP IT!"

Lily Evans had pushed through the crowd, and her wand was pointed at Harry. She looked furious. "I though you'd finally decided to deflate your head a bit Potter!" she yelled, her eyes flashing. "But I guess you can't. You'll always be an arrogant bullying git, you'll never change-!"

"Evans!" Sirius yelled back. "Listen, James wasn't in his right mind, he just-"

"Oh, SHUP UP!" Lily snapped. "You're as bad as he is-"

"Oi-James!" Lupin suddenly shouted. Everyone looked around, Harry too late. He felt Snape's curse hit him without anytime to react; it felt as though a sword had slashed several parts of his body. Cuts on his face, arms, and chest were now bleeding freely, and Harry, in pain, fell to the floor.

He heard, distantly, Lupin and Sirius shouting jinxes and swear words at Snape before he passed out.

Harry felt groggy when he came to, realized he was in the Hospital Wing, and that somebody had taken off his glasses when he opened his eyes. He saw the blurry outline of Madam Pomfrey bustling around. He reached for his glasses, at the same time feeling a pain in his arm and part of his chest, put them on, and sat up.

"Oh good, you're awake," said Madam Pomfrey, coming over to check Harry's wounds. "Those were some nasty cuts you had there, but I've stopped the bleeding, and the scarring should be reduced. I put a potion on them. They might hurt for a few days though. I'm keeping you overnight and tomorrow. How you got those cuts…"

"I was dueling with Severus Snape," Harry told her. She frowned.

"A student couldn't know a spell like that! I've never seen anything like it…Well, you should get some sleep." With that, Madam Pomfrey walked into her office, leaving Harry alone.

Harry looked at the bedside table and saw, to his surprise, a folded up piece of parchment with the words James Potter written on the outside. Curious, Harry picked it up and unfolded it; inside was the following message:

Dear Prongs,

Tonight we won't see you, but tomorrow be prepared to receive a speech from all of us about the proper way to get a girl (Lily Evans) to like you, as well as ways not to get in trouble when you can't afford it. As well as ways to get revenge on Snivellus; that was low, what he did. That foul, slimy, horrible GIT! Anyway, rest assured: As your friends we promise to get Lily to like you.

Get Well Soon (Your Friends),

Moony, Wormtail, and Padfoot

Harry grinned slightly at the letter in his hands. It seemed so like James' friends to forgive him and swear revenge on Snape. But the part about Lily Evans still lingered unpleasantly in his mind, haunting him. Had he ruined his parent's relationship? Could it be fixed? Thoughts about his parents swirled in Harry's head, interrupting his dreams as he slept.

Harry woke up around lunch time the next, and found himself visited by James' friends barely fifteen minutes later. They didn't seem angry at Harry, on the contrary, they were relieved.

"That git!" Sirius said. "I swear, when I get a hold of him…"

"Where d'you think he learned that spell anyway? Madam Pomfrey didn't believe me when I told her it was Snape…She said it was too dark a spell, and she'd never heard of it before," Harry said quietly. He looked around at the group. Sirius and Lupin both looked pale and tired, while Peter looked nervous.

"Maybe we should stay away from Snape for awhile," Peter suggested, looking imploringly at Harry.

Ignoring Peter, Lupin said, "It seems likely that Snape could've made that spell up. Or he could've gotten it out of one of those weird books he's always reading, about the Dark Arts…I dunno."

Harry suddenly remembered why he'd sought out a fight with Snape in the first place, and asked, in a very low voice, "How was the full moon, anyway? The transformations went well?"

"Well, I don't remember much…I never do," Lupin replied thoughtfully. "From what Sirius and Peter told me, everything went well. Right?"

"Of course, perfect!" Peter squeaked. Lupin raised his eyebrows, and Harry felt suspicious. Both looked at Sirius, who shrugged.

"Alright, it was a bit hard keeping Moony in check without you, Prongs," he said, gesturing to Lupin, and then Harry in turn. "But not too hard…We managed to explore the grounds for a bit, then Peter and I took Remus back to the Shrieking Shack once dawn came close, and he started to get tired…But it wasn't too hard, was it Wormtail?"

He looked at Peter, who shook his head and said, "No, not hard." Harry couldn't tell whether this was true or whether Lupin, Sirius, and Peter were just trying to make him feel less guilty. At any rate, it was working.

"I heard Evans talking about last night with her friends," Sirius added, looking pointedly at Harry. "I reckon she's worried about you."

"Lily, worried about me?" Harry asked, shocked.

"Yeah," said Peter. "She was furious at Snape, but didn't curse him last night. I remember her saying something about visiting you…Lily doesn't seem so angry at you anymore James-you got more than you should've, I guess."

Harry's heart lifted a bit more, and his happiness at not having ruined his father's relationship with Lily remained even after James' friends had left for their afternoon lessons. It was around dinner time when Madam Pomfrey, satisfied with Harry's healed wounds, dismissed him from the Hospital Wing.

The first person he found (or rather, who found him) was a young boy with black hair, who looked vaguely familiar and who called him out in the hallway. "Had fun last night, Potter?" The boy couldn't have been over fifteen years old, and his voice sounded cold and taunting. He had on a prefect's badge with the Slytherin colors, confirming to Harry that he was in or above fifth year.

"What d'you mean?" Harry asked slowly, still trying to figure out how he thought this boy looked familiar, even though they had never met

"With Severus," the boy said, smirking slightly. "Bet that came as a shock-he got you good."

"Did he now?" Harry asked, feeling annoyed. "Well, I'll get him next time. I have to ask, who are you?" He knew it was a risky move; James had probably known this boy. The boy, sure enough, frowned, looking at Harry as though he (Harry) was crazy.

"Did Snape hit you that hard with the curse? Or are you just naturally mental?"

"Erm…" Harry had no reply, but it was obvious this boy wasn't going to give him a straight answer.

"You're mental," the boy answered himself, sounding disdainful, and turning around to leave. "I should've expected it from someone who hangs around my brother so much; it was bound to happen…" He shook his head and disappeared down the corridor.

Suddenly comprehension dawned on Harry. "…From someone who hangs around my brother so much…" He had been talking to Regulus Black, Sirius' brother. Harry had never met him-Regulus had been murdered about a year before Harry's parents were killed-but he shared some of Sirius' traits. Now feeling slightly unnerved about how much other people he might not know, Harry set off towards the Great Hall.

"James? She's staring at you," Peter whispered to Harry as he did his homework. All of the Gryffindors were in the common room, as it was after hours and they couldn't be out. "It's like she's…transfixed…on you." Harry looked up, and saw Lily's face redden slightly as she hastily looked away.

"I'm alright, she knows that by now," Harry muttered. "So what does she want?"

"You," Sirius answered with a smile on his face.

"She spent the last few years saying she hated me!" Harry said, confused. Unless something had happened that Harry had not known about, he was sure that he was right.

"Maybe she was covering up," Sirius said simply. "People do that. And girls-they're so confusing! I swear, no one can figure them out!"

Harry, who had had some experience with confusing girls (in his fifth year he had dated one named Cho Chang, and she had been really difficult to figure out), nodded. He was sure that Lily had been just as confusing to his father, and that this was just the beginning.

"Moony, you've been really quiet," Peter said to Lupin. "What d'you think?"

Lupin, who had been working on a long essay for Potions, one that Harry and Sirius had already finished (and that Peter was only half concentrating on), looked up. "I dunno," he said, evidently thinking hard. "Lily's usual very straightforward. Then again, this is a very different situation from the usual, isn't it? We'll just have to see, I guess."

Harry moved on to a Transfiguration essay on Conjuring spells. Next to him, Sirius was writing a very long essay about how airplanes stay up for his Muggle Studies class, and Peter was panicking over the Potions essay. Lupin was trying to help him. They worked straight through with an unusual amount of concentration for about an hour and a half. Then-

"So," said a voice, interrupting the quiet. Harry looked up to see Lily standing there, looking at them, a frown on her face.

"So what?" Peter asked, sounding unusually bold.

"So, have you talked to James about Snape yet? You three are lucky you escaped without detention. And James was lucky, period."

"Detention? What…" Harry started, but Lily cut across him.

"They cursed Snape so he looked like a slug by the time the other Slytherins had enough sense to drag him to their common room!" Lily explained coldly. "They preformed loads of illegal hexes, and-"

"Look," said Sirius, "If you're here to lecture us, leave now."

But Lily didn't move. She looked angry. "You should-you should apologize to Snape," she said.

Now Sirius looked outraged. "Apologize to Snape?! Lily, where have you been?! After what he did to James, he deserved it!"

"James provoked him, and you know it!" Lily snapped. "Didn't you, James?" Her eyes flashed dangerously as they landed on Harry.

"Well yeah, I did," Harry said, feeling slightly ashamed.

"And you three didn't try and stop him," Lily said angrily to Lupin, Sirius, and Peter.

"We tried," Peter protested weakly. "We really did, but-"

"You didn't arrive in time," Lupin said calmly. "He really wasn't in his right mind. James has kept off Snape, and loads of others, ever since the start of the year. We all have. You can't tear him apart after one little slip. That curse Snape put on him was more of a punishment than he deserved anyway, and you know it."

For some reason, it looked as though Lily had tears in her eyes, and Harry couldn't even begin to fathom why. "The thing is, he'll do it again and again. And you know it James, you know you'll always be-"

"No, Lily, I won't," Harry said quietly, feeling nervous. "Just hear me out, think for a moment,-"

"About you? No!" Lily snapped. "I'm tired of it, James. You'll always be a stupid, bullying, arrogant GIT!"

"Come off it!" Sirius yelled. Peter looked as though he'd been slapped in the face, and Lupin was staring at Lily as though he had never seen her clearly before. Harry felt stunned. The only thing he could ask was Why?

Lily made an odd movement, as though she was going to take out her wand. Her hand made it as far as her pocket before she seemed to think better of it. Instead she picked up two books-one was James' Transfiguration book, the other Peter's Potions book.

All four boys must have been too stunned to react to Lily's actions, because none of them did a thing to stop Lily from doing what she did next. She threw the first book at them. The Transfiguration book hit Sirius on the head; he cringed and put his hands up to the injured spot while cursing Lily under his breath. The second book, the Potions one, was thrown at Harry's chest with such force that it knocked Harry off the seat. Lily then turned on heal and stormed up the steps to the girls' dormitories. The whole room went silent as the door slammed seconds later.

"Bloody hell," Peter whispered, looking shaken. Harry picked himself up off the floor and looked around. Everyone was staring at him. Blushing slightly, Harry gathered up his books and his essay. Next to him, Sirius, Lupin, and Peter were doing the same. In total silence they headed back to their own dormitories.

As soon as Peter, the last one in, closed the door, Harry let out a long sigh. "That was horrible," he said. "Honestly, she-"

"She was mental!" Sirius said loudly. "Why was she sticking up for Snape? She knows Snape doesn't appreciate it! And she was worried about you before, not angry, so why would she be angry now?!" He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated, and evidently thinking hard.

"It was weird," Lupin said quietly. "She didn't have a good reason. I mean, you've been pretty good this year, haven't you? And Snape's curse was more than enough punishment. She knew it, too. I just…don't know." He too lapsed into thoughtful silence.

Harry had no clue why his mother had gone off the handle like that. He changed into his night clothes feeling confused and angry at Lily. What right did she have to yell at him like that?

As if in answer to his question, someone from across the room said "Ahhh….I know!"

Harry turned around. Sirius had jumped off his bed and was pacing. "You know what?" Peter asked curiously. Sirius turned to face him and Harry. Lupin, also interested, crossed the room and sat on Harry's bed.

"Maybe," Sirius said, "she thought you had changed for good, and then you messed up the other night with Snape. She was starting to…er…trust you-" Lupin and Harry exchanged looks, and knew trust wasn't the word Sirius had meant to say. "-and now you've broken it. What I mean is…" He started pacing again. "Lily was starting to like you, I'll bet anything, but now she's not sure."

"I see," Lupin said. "That's why she looked like she was going to cry! It all fits! She was starting to like you, James, but then you showed her the exact reason she didn't like you in the first place. She's just as confused as we are!"

Harry stared at the both of them, comprehension dawning on him. So I confused her, and now she's got no clue what kind of person I really am I-er, I mean James, really is, Harry thought. He looked up at the others. "So, how do we fix this?"

The other three exchanged looks, clearly at a loss. Then Lupin said simply, "We'll have to talk to her." Peter and Sirius gave him incredulous looks, as though talking to Lily was impossible. "Don't worry, Prongs. Between the three of us, you'll have Lily, don't worry. All we have to do is think before we do or say anything." The last few words were directed particularly at Sirius, who usually acted before taking the time to think about things. It got him in trouble a lot.

Harry frowned, not convinced. Lily was just too stubborn to let three of James' friends convince her that James was the perfect guy for her. Seeing Harry's look, Lupin said, "Don't worry. Everything will work out."

But will it be for better, or worse? Harry thought. Needless to say, he didn't sleep too well.